ADAPTATION OF PARLIAMENT’S RULES OF PROCEDURE TO THE TREATY OF LISBON

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15 June 2010

Hudghton (Greens/EFA) - I voted against Amendment 110, which envisages this House having cooperation with Member State parliaments but not with sub-Member State parliaments. This ignores the constitutional realities of some Member States; for example, although Flanders has taken an historic step this week towards independence, the Belgian Federal Parliament remains for now the 'national' parliament in EU terms. Nevertheless, in Belgian constitutional terms, the Flemish Parliament has full competence for certain EU matters. The amendment also ignores the political realities of other Member States: it is ridiculous that this House cannot fully cooperate with the Scottish Parliament on matters such as fisheries, where Scotland holds the biggest UK stake.